What was in the envelope Pence?
John Bolton: Pence was a 'consistent ally' and equally 'stunned' by some Trump actions
WASHINGTON – Former National Security Adviser John Bolton mercilessly criticizes President Donald Trump in his new book but writes that he had a White House ally in the vice president.
From China and Russia to Syria and Venezuela, Bolton and Vice President Mike Pence wanted to take hard lines against oppressive regimes while Trump sought to cut deals and appease totalitarian leaders, Bolton says in his memoir scheduled for release Tuesday.
“As Vice President, Pence maintained the strong views on national security that he’d had during his years in the House of Representatives, and I regarded him as a consistent ally,” Bolton wrote in “The Room Where it Happened: A White House Memoir.”
Bolton argued for keeping Pence on the 2020 ticket when Trump asked if he should replace him with Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador.
Bolton called it a bad idea to jettison someone so loyal without a guarantee that it would pay off at the ballot box.
“That seemed to be Trump’s thinking as well,” he wrote.
Pence's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bolton defends Pence on Ukraine
Bolton also backs up Pence’s previous refutation that he’d been warned that the delay in aid to Ukraine – the issue at the center of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry – had become tied to politically-motivated investigations Trump wanted.
Diplomat Gordon Sondland testified under oath last year that he mentioned his concern to Pence in a briefing in Warsaw shortly before Pence met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in September.
Pence has disputed Sondland’s account of raising concerns about the aid and has broadly denied knowing about the allegations.
Bolton, who was aware of efforts by Sondland and others to get Ukraine to investigate, wrote that he doesn’t recall “Sondland saying anything at that meeting” with Pence.
But when Pence and Bolton discussed the issue without Sondland, the vice president “acknowledged we still didn’t have a good answer to give” Zelensky for why the assistance hadn’t been released.
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/john-bolton-pence-consistent-ally-160624520.html